Griggs courier., 1887-12-09

up tn0fuSuts OUT IL la0C grew I0l0t anu
dizzy, and went down on his side
with crash, which made the earth
tremble.
7 q second instance Of elephantins
terocity, combined with stealth and
shrewdness, occurred on that same
trip. Six Of US were scattered through
q wood in search Of signs Of the pres
ence Of elephants. when a SOLITARY"
sneaked out Of q jungle. where he had
been hidden, and rushed upon my
horse. Twas two miles away, but one
Of the natives saw the performance.
He said the elephant broke cover a.
stealthily as a man, carefully ap-
preached the horse, and was only
few yards away when discovered.
Then he trumpeted and made rush.
His sudden appearance seemed to
strike the horse with terror, and he
made no move to escape. The great
trunk, held aloft as the beast charged,
struck the horse s.side swipe'' and
knocked him flat, and he was no
sooner down than the elephant knelt
upon him and kneaded him into bloody
pulp. When his vengeance was salts
fed he rose up and retreated to the
same thicket, sneaking along as if he
was seeking to hide his trail It was
an hour later when I reached the
spot, and was so angry over the
death of my steed that nothing the
men could say would stop me from
entering the thicket in search of the
destroyer. Joe followed me, bearing
gun, and both of us were ready for
any trick the beast might be up to,
but we were too late. We found the
spot where he had stood for hours,
and from which he had sailed out to
attack the horse, but he had quietly
sneaked off The elephant, when pur-
suiAg an ordinary course through the
forest, leaves broad trail behind him.
He breaks down branches, uproots
small trees, and the prints of his big
feet could be followed on horseback.
at q gallop. This fellow had gone off
so softly that we were half an hour in
picking up his trail There was not
broken branch, and he had set his feet
down with the utmost care, and select
ed the hardest soil. After getting a
quarter Of a mile away he had selected
a rocky ridge to travel on. and we soon
lost him entirely. .
Our camp was about three miles
from the spot where the horse was
killed. We always had one guard and
a couple of fires, and as there was only
the wild beast to look out for, we had
slept in perfect content. On this night,
soon after midnight, the guard awoke
me and stated that some danger
menaced the camp. He had heard
what he believed was body of men
lurking about, and the bullocks seemed
greatly excited. The camp was aroused
as quietly as possible, the fires were
allowed to burn low, and in short
time the statements of the sentinel
were verified. Somebody or some
thing was lurking about. We were in
the lion country, but the movements
were too heavy for the king Of beasts.
The noise passed clear around the
camp and back, and then all was quiet.
We were under arms for half an hour,
and then, all being still, we lay down,
and all but the sentinel were soon
asleep. An hour later, as suddenly as
il. shot from the gun, the old solitary
Of the day charged into our camp,
'trumpeting like the blasts from loco
motive, and evidently in a great rage.
It was he who had been lurking about
for two or three hours. He had ap-
preached the camp as carefully as
man could walk, and had passed around
it to locate every thing and decide on
q point to charge from. When we got
the alarm. he placed himself in the
shadow Of some bushes, and the
natives. who examined the spot, said
he stood there for an hour and a half
without moving foos
Bloody and destructive work fol-
lowed the charge of the elephant. He
stepped on and crushed a sleeping
native. picked a second up and dashed
him to the earth corpse. and broke
the back of q third who was trying to
get out Of his way. He was soon
among the bullocks, knocking them
right and left with his terrible blows,
and just then I got my gun ready. His
charge had been so sudden and fierce
that we were all demoralized for two
or three minutes. Fortunately for us
all, someone had the sense to throw
some light brush on one Of the dying
fires and started big blaze. This
seemed to disconcert the elephant. and
he showed SIGNS of retreatino. In this